Victory for Responsible Palm Oil Plantations

A multi-year campaign from organizations like Greenpeace, Rainforest Action Network, and the Forest Trust has managed to arrest deforestation and human rights abuses from palm oil plantations. One of the last big company holdouts has finally agreed to purchase palm only exclusively from responsible sources. The Singapore based company known as Musim Mas made the announcement last week. This is significant because Musim Mas it is responsible for 18 percent of the world’s palm oil.

In a press release Musim Mas announced its new sustainability policy, which, it said, “re-affirms its commitment to bring benefits to the community, respect the rights of smallholders to develop or conserve their land, while maintaining a strict guideline of No Deforestation, No Peatland Development and No Exploitation.”

Musim Mas joins Wilmar International who agreed to stop land clearing and human rights abuses last year. No a total of 96 percent of palm oil production is covered by a no-deforestation policy.

This policy will protect vital orangutan habitat and prevent slash and burn agricultural practices that release massive amounts of carbon into the atmosphere.